• Source:JND
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Trinamool Congress leaders were detained for staging a protest against the central probe agencies outside the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday. Soon after the leaders were arrested, TMC leader Derek O' Brien said they would continue their protest at the Mandir Marg police station. This came after a 10-member delegation of the TMC had announced the dharna after meeting a full bench of the poll body. Let's take a look at what has happened so far:

- TMC MP Saket Gokhale on Monday accused the Delhi Police of kidnapping five MPs and four former MPs of the party. Taking to X, he said that the protesting leaders were told that they were being taken to Mandir Marg Police Station, however, the bus diverted and took an unknown turn.

- The leaders who were detained include Derek O'Brien, TMC MPs Mohammed Nadimul Haque, Dola Sen, Saket Gokhale and Sagarika Ghose, MLA Vivek Gupta, former MPs Arpita Ghosh, Santanu Sen and Abir Ranjan Biswas, and party's students' wing West Bengal vice president Sudip Raha.

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- Speaking about the detention, a a senior police officer said that the action was taken as section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure -- which prohibits large gatherings -- is imposed in the area around the EC office and no permission was taken for the protest.

- Meanwhile, following the detention of the leaders, Senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee went to the Raj Bhavan in order to file a complaint with West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose in the matter. According to TMC sources cited by PTI, an 11-member delegation led by Banerjee went to the governor's house around 9 PM.

- The party led by Mamata Banerjee has been claiming that the opposition parties have been targeted by the central investigative agencies ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, allegedly at the behest of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

- The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a scathing attack on the TMC and termed the dharna a "poll gimmick", also alleging that the party was making an all-out effort to protect Shahjahan Seikh, the main accused in the Sandeshkhali case.

- "TMC leaders do not care about the Constitution of India and democracy. If anyone has insulted the Constitution, constitutional institutions and democracy, it is TMC leaders. They are doing 'nautanki' (gimmick) to protect and save Shahjahan Sheikh," BJP national general secretary Arun Singh told reporters.

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- Meanwhile, the delegation of the TMC leaders appealed to the Election Commission to guarantee impartiality during the Lok Sabha elections and to cease the "misuse" of central agencies to target opposition parties and leaders, according to Sagarika Ghose, who was among the leaders who met the poll panel.

- Earlier on Sunday, the Trinamool Congress alleged an "unholy alliance" between the NIA and the BJP ahead of elections. However, the central investigating agency responded to the accusations and declared the whole controversy to be "unfortunate" and refuted any bad intentions.

- The incident came two days after a team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), that went to arrest two main suspects in a 2022 blast case in West Bengal's Purba Medinipur district, was attacked by the locals. While the incident erupted a controversy, Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has questioned why the officials went to the place at midnight.